Best of the Best – A Gothic Review

My favourite game franchise is the Gothic franchise: three full games and two add-ons. Gothic was followed by Gothic 2 and then the add-on Gothic 2 – The Night of the Raven (NOTR). All three games were developed by Piranha Bytes. Other games followed in the series but they aren’t as good as the first three. This is a spoiler-free but thorough review of Gothic. After the Gothic review, I briefly discuss Gothic 2. Since nearly everything that I say about Gothic also applies to Gothic 2, I will not be repeating the information when discussing Gothic 2. I will only mention things about Gothic 2 that are different from the original game. I will also apply this strategy when I briefly discuss Gothic 2 – The Night of the Raven.

Gothic

Gothic is an open-world RPG. You can play as a warrior, ranger or mage or any combination of the three. The game came out in 2001, 6 months before The Elder Scrolls III – Morrowind. Massive with great graphics for the time and hundreds of quests, Morrowind received widespread acclaim along with many awards and nominations. In this review, I am going to compare Gothic to Morrowind.

Morrowind doesn’t do everything in the best way possible. My biggest Morrowind complaints fall into the following three categories: dialogue, combat animation and unrealistic NPCs. Other issues include travelling and the behaviour of doors and windows.

First, there is almost no spoken dialogue in Morrowind. When you have a conversation with someone, a list of dialogue options appears on your screen. You click on one and then you read the other character’s reply. This might be followed by another list of options. My second complaint is that the combat animation is not very good. When you swing your sword, axe or other weapon, your character takes only a very short swing. For an overhead strike, the animation stops when the weapon hits the target’s head. For a strike across the torso (right-to-left or left-to-right), the animation stops when the weapon makes contact with the body. So each strike is very short; there’s no follow-through.

My third complaint is that the game’s NPCs are unrealistic because they don’t give the appearance of having lives. Most characters have a routine that never varies; they’re in the same place every time you encounter them. My fourth complaint involves travelling. Whenever the hero traveled somewhere, a “Loading” screen would appear every few seconds. These Loading screens were annoying interruptions. Since Morrowind was a demanding game for the time, the Loading screens may have been caused by inadequate hardware; a modern computer might not have this issue. My final complaint involves the operation of doors and windows. When you enter or exit a building, the door doesn’t open. Instead, you teleport from inside to outside or vice versa. You also can’t look through windows. When inside a building, for example, you can’t look through a window to see people outside. This is because, in Morrowind, the entire outside is a single map and the inside of each structure is also a single map and you can’t look from one map to another.

Dialogue and Music

Unlike Morrowind, Gothic has spoken dialogue throughout the entire game and the voice acting is beyond excellent. It is truly outstanding and the game’s best feature. The NPCs are lively and have many things to say. There are also many different accents and several of the characters are very funny. Some characters are so funny they will make you laugh out loud, others will annoy you like crazy and others you will learn to hate. The voice acting is the best of any game I’ve ever played.

Gothic also contains many excellent musical compositions that play at different points in the game.

Combat Animation

The combat animation in Gothic is excellent. I always use only 1-handed swords because the animation is so good. When the player’s character swings a sword, the animation doesn’t stop when the sword makes contact with the body. If your character swings a sword from right to left (forehand), the animation continues until the sword is on the left side of the character. At this point your character can swing his sword from left to right (backhand), bringing the sword back to the right side. The strikes are very fluid, flowing from one strike to the next. When fighting an enemy you can repeat this motion – forehand, backhand, forehand, backhand – as many times as you want. The animation is excellent. It’s very smooth and very realistic – much better than in Morrowind.

To get the most out of Gothic you need to learn the Gothic fighting technique. Once you’ve received some training, go somewhere private and practice. It’s all about timing. Watch your character closely and only click the mouse when your character is ready for the next strike. Clicking the mouse too soon will interrupt the sequence and your character will just stand there motionless. So, practice in private until you are confident that you understand the timing. When you have a good rhythm going, go and find some low-level enemies to fight. If you don’t learn the fighting technique well, you won’t last long against enemies.

Realistic Characters

It’s clear that when Gothic was being developed, a lot of effort was put into making it seem like the NPCs had lives. Nearly every NPC has a home with a bed. During the day, nearly every NPC does several different things. There’s a lot of variety. Some NPCs start the day sitting around a campfire while others make repairs to their homes. NPCs that are vendors begin selling their merchandise while others gather in small groups to make meaningless conversation. After a while, many NPCs will go somewhere to do something else. In the evenings, the vendors are no longer selling their wares and can be found elsewhere. Some NPCs can be found in the bar in the evenings. At a certain time, which varies a lot, most NPCs go to their homes and go to sleep. Some NPCs remain at the bar until very late. The behaviour of the NPCs adds a lot of realism to Gothic.

Explore and Talk to Everyone

Gothic isn’t an easy game especially if you’re new to RPGs. Take your time, explore, talk to everyone and don’t go wandering around the forests at night. If you see something that looks like it could eat you for breakfast, it can. Don’t approach it until you’re well-armed, well-armored and above all, trained.

Travelling and “Doors and Windows”

When travelling in Gothic, there are no “Loading” screens of any kind. The graphics is displayed on the screen smoothly, without interruption. Doors and windows function differently in Gothic than in Morrowind. When you enter or exit a building, the door opens. This is because, in Gothic, the entire outside and inside of all above-ground buildings is a single map. You can enter a building, leave the door open and then look through the open doorway to see outside. You can also look through windows to see outside. These are minor issues but they both add to the realism of the game. This is one example of why I think Gothic is more advanced than Morrowind at the design level.

Graphics

The main complaint with Gothic is the graphics. The game is old and the graphics are very dated. However, there are many mods you can make use of to improve the game. Some improve the graphics while others provide support for widescreen monitors or make the game more stable with modern versions of Windows. Last time I played Gothic, I played at a resolution of 1920 x 1080.

What Does Gothic Have that Other Games Don’t?

Evolving Combat Animation

Gothic was ahead of its time in a way that is not seen even with modern games – the combat animation changes as your character learns. Besides the sequel to Gothic and the sequel’s add-on, I’ve never played a game where the combat animation gets more advanced as your character learns. For example, when you start the game, your character doesn’t know how to swing a sword properly. Whenever he swings a sword, there is an animation sequence that clearly shows his lack of experience. When your character receives level 1 training, the trainer instructs him how to properly swing a sword. After training, the combat animation is different because your character has learned how to swing a sword properly. The animation actually reflects exactly what the trainer said during training. After receiving level 2 training, the animation changes again. It is now longer and more complex because the character has been trained to the highest level. Besides Gothic 2 and Gothic 2 – The Night of the Raven, I don’t know any other game that does this. It shows the effort that was put into the game to make it as realistic as possible.

Realistic NPCs that Have Lives

In many RPGs, the NPCs don’t seem to have lives. They have little to no purpose and walk around aimlessly. For example, in some games I have played, NPCs in a town might walk from one location to another only to turn around immediately and walk back. That’s all these NPCs do – walk back and forth between 2 points for no reason at all. This is done in an attempt to make the town seem lively but the lack of variety in their routine detracts from the game’s realism. Also, NPCs often don’t seem to have homes; they’re not asleep in a bed at night. The NPCs in Gothic have lives and this adds to the realism of the game. At no time will you find NPCs walking back and forth aimlessly between 2 points.

Objects in the Environment the Player can Interact with

The player can interact with many objects in the game. Many of these aren’t important but there are some that are quite useful and make the game more enjoyable. There are also some that are quite important as they give you a way to earn the game’s equivalent of money.

Conclusion

When it was released, Gothic was ahead of its time featuring voice acting for the entire game. The game has a good story with several funny characters – outstanding voice acting being the game’s best feature. To enjoy this game you need two things: patience and mastery of the Gothic fighting technique. If you don’t possess these two items, you won’t last very long. The combat animation is better than many much newer games, the NPCs behave in a realistic manner and the music is also very good. The graphics are now very dated but mods help a lot. If you look past the graphics, Gothic is a great RPG.

Gothic 2

Gothic is a great game but I prefer Gothic 2. While Gothic 2 doesn’t have the humor of the original, I find its game-world more interesting. Gothic 2 begins where Gothic leaves off. Once again, the game is open-world and you can choose from many options of how to play. Both the music and voice acting are excellent. The graphics are better than the original but still dated. However, as before, you can make use of mods to improve the graphics considerably and provide widescreen support. Everything I said in my review for Gothic, except for the many funny characters, also applies to Gothic 2.

The game-world of Gothic 2 is extremely well designed. There are many interesting places in a relatively small but carefully crafted game-world filled with secrets. This makes Gothic 2 a lot of fun to explore. There’s something different around every corner in Gothic 2. Gothic 2, like the original, is not an easy game. It’s harder than the original; some people find it quite difficult.

To enjoy this game you need the same items you need to play the original Gothic: patience and mastery of the Gothic fighting technique. Since Gothic 2 is harder than the original, possessing these two items is even more important than for the original game.

Gothic 2 The Night of the Raven

This is my favourite RPG and my favourite game of all time. In response to requests from fans, the developer released Gothic 2 – The Night of the Raven (NOTR). Nearly everything I said about Gothic and Gothic 2, except for Gothic’s many funny characters, also applies to NOTR. Although it’s known as an add-on, NOTR is actually a reworking of Gothic 2.

Unlike a typical add-on which is a stand-alone game that you might play after playing the original game, NOTR is a game that you could play instead of playing its predecessor. That’s because, for the most part, NOTR is the same game as Gothic 2. It has the same main quest as Gothic 2 but adds an additional main quest. It also adds a new area to explore with new NPCs, monsters and quests.

NOTR is also harder than Gothic 2; all mid-level and high-level enemies are harder to kill. Since NOTR is harder than its predecessor, great patience is crucial. This might force you to change your strategy from Gothic 2.

Download and Install

If you decide to play these games, you can buy them from a game download site. To get the most out of these three games, I suggest you start with the original. It’s the easiest although still not all that easy. Then, play Gothic 2. Only move on to NOTR if you want an even greater challenge than Gothic 2.

Download files for all 3 games on the Download page. Instructions for installing all the files on the Download page can be found below.

Gothic

Gothic is 16 years old and still popular as evidenced by the many mods made for it. Download the official patch (might not be necessary if you buy the game from a game download site as it might be included in the download) as well as mods to improve the graphics, increase stability and provide widescreen support. There’s also a program that modifies the game to make it easier to use mods. Some of these files I only recently discovered and I haven’t yet had a chance to try them.

Gothic 2 Night of the Raven

As with Gothic 2, there is no official patch for NOTR. Once again, there are files to download that improve the graphics, increase stability, provide widescreen support and make it easier to use mods.

Gothic, Gothic 2 and NOTR have a small but dedicated English-speaking fanbase. From what I’ve read, the games are most popular in Germany, Poland and especially Russia where they have apparently achieved cult status. Most mods for the games discussed in this article are less than 50MB. A few are over 100MB. As of the writing of this review, NOTR is 14 years old, yet people still make content mods for this game. There are four very big content mods for NOTR, some of which were made by teams of passionate fans. Gothic II – L’Hiver EN Edition was made in 2015 and is 783MB. Gothic II – Jason’s L’Hiver ENG Edition is a modified version of the L’Hiver mod. It was made in 2016 and is 1GB. Odyssey was made in 2014 and is 1.76GB. The biggest mod is Returning 2.0 which was made in December, 2015 and is a massive 4.36GB. To download Returning you need a torrent downloader. Download “BitTorrent” if you don’t have a torrent downloader already. Some of these mods are Russian-made. Fortunately, there are English subtitles that translate the all-Russian dialogue.

Here are the instructions for installing NOTR without a content mod as well as NOTR with L’Hiver, Jason’s L’Hiver, Returning and Odyssey.